Quote of the day - stopping

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Stopping is almost as difficult as starting.  -Jackie Morris, artist, writer, illustrator

On her blog, she goes on to say: "What I think I have learned is that you have to do something in order to discover the best way to do it, and in the doing of it you always learn more and better ways to do it so you could just keep doing the same thing over and over. But you have to stop and let go and give it up almost. And sometimes you have to stop and start again. And how do you know when? Sometimes you realise too late that it was half an hour ago. "

To add my own thoughts: 1. It's as important to have a stopping time as to have a starting time. When writing a dissertation (in 1990, was it?) I  belatedly learned the value of setting yourself a starting time, but it wasn't until sometime in the 21st century that I even heard of the value of setting yourself a stopping time. I used to hang around at work and get "just one more thing" done, while sensible people went home - mind you, I loved being in a quiet office at last! Now, setting my own timetable, I'm uneasy if my chosen starting time goes by and I haven't started ... but I'm still able to let the stopping time sneak past, especially on the computer.

2. You do have to do something to learn how - and you have to do it over and over until it becomes ... not automatic, but easier. While doing, you have to pay attention to what's happening - eventually that habit of paying attention will become automatic and your response will seem intuitive. And yes, when it's easy, you can go on and on doing it ... so, what's the optimum number of repetitions, when is enough enough?

3. "Sometimes you have to stop and start again" - and you have to let go of the physical results, because you've taken all you need from the process.